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[R]ediX

“The Stockbridge Munsee Tribe of Mohican Indians”

Overview of tribal history* prior to 1609: Mohicans roam lands from Manhattan Island to Lake Champlain, from the coast to the Housatonic River valley

* 1609: Henry Hudson sails down the Hudson River, encountering the Mohicans

* 1628-1675: at war with the Mohawks, decline of Mohican influence in the area

* 1675-1710: growth of English and Dutch colonies, infringing on Mohican hunting grounds, introducing tuberculosis and smallpox endemics….alcoholism appears amongst the indians… cultural losses begin…

* 1734: missionary work begins with the Mohicans settled in Stockbridge, Massachusetts

* 1776: Mohicans join the colonists in the revolutionary war

* 1785: resettlement to a 6 sq. mile piece of land offered by the Oneida Indians (Brothertown Indians) in NY state

* 1808: offer of land in Indiana Territory by the Miami Indians attested by President Jefferson

* 1818: Mohicans move to Indiana, but find that the land had been sold to settlers

* 1818-1821: settlement along the White River in Indiana; joined by Munsee Indians to form the Stockbridge-Munsee band of Mohican Indians

* 1821: treaties for land east of the Fox River in Wisconsin negotiated with the Menominee and Winnebago tribes

* 1831: new treaty offered by the US gov’t for a reservation east of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin

* 1843: Congress offers US citizenship to the Mohicans in exchange for surrendering tribal ownership of land

* 1849: Mohicans surrender the title to Wisconsin lands for $25,000 and promise of land west of the Mississippi…that land never materialized…

* 1856: a new treaty allotted land individually to US citizen Mohicans, the non-US citizen Mohicans settle on a new 40,000 acre reservation offered by the Menominees

* 1887-1910: loss of communally held lands due to consequences of the General Allotment Act of Congress through tax delinquency or debts

* 1910-1931: poverty stricken Mohicans remain in area surrounding the former reservation in the township of Red Springs

* 1931: The Stockbridge-Munsee Business Comittee is formed in Red Springs, Wisconsin leading to political activity amongst the Mohicans

* 1934: Indian Reorganization Act passed by Congress allowing tribes to purchase lands for reservations

* 1935: some of the land lost from the former reservation is repurchased for the tribe by the gov’t ( 2,250 of the original 40,000 acres )

* 1936: 11 Mohican families resettle on newly purchased gov’t controlled lands

* 1938: Tribal Council formed, title to the 2,250 acres is given to the tribe

* 1972: Mohicans given title to an additional 13,000 acres of adjoining land that had been in control of the Interior Dept. since 1935

* Present day: the Mohican Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Band with members on and off the reservation in east central Wisconsin is thriving.